Past News Releases

Although lifestyle factors play a major role in over 90% of high blood pressure cases, a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in June this year estimates that 70% of US adults with hypertension are using medication to control their blood pressure.

Paul Howard, spokesman for The Hypnotension programme said, "Doctors know that lifestyle modifications require willpower from the patient, which is hard to prescribe. Although medication doesn't deal with the underlying problems, it is a known quantity."

But whilst a lifetime of medication suits some, for others like "Simon", the side effects of the medication provide the motivation they need to change.

Simon, a 36 year old car dealership owner, had seen his blood pressure steadily rising since the age of 25. He finally went to his G.P. 3 years ago and by then his BP was 180/105 mmHg.

After a barrage of tests, that had all returned negative, his doctor told him that he would be on medication to control his blood pressure for the rest of his life. The medications did their job but they could only reduce Simon's blood pressure to 150/90. There were some 'minor' side effects from a medical point of view, but to Simon they were far more than minor - especially in the bedroom department.

Simon said, “My Doctor said in no uncertain terms that he was not happy about my BP still being high and that I had to seriously curb my lifestyle. I managed quite well for about 4 months, I reduced my drinking significantly and ate healthily but I gradually dropped back into old habits. I liked the idea of a new lifestyle but I just felt I was missing out.”

Simon admits that the main reason he sought out different help was the side effects of the medication. “Using the loo, what seemed like every five minutes, was bad enough but not being able to perform was having a devastating effect on my life.”

Finally, on the next visit to the GP with his BP rising again and Simon unable to maintain a new lifestyle and very reluctant to increase his medication, the GP referred him to a local Hypnotension practitioner.

The Hypnotension programme is designed specifically to help hypnotherapists be very effective at bringing down high blood pressure. It is far more than just reducing stress and losing weight. It looks at and tackles over a dozen different lifestyle factors and works with the client to make the changes at a physical and psychological level.

Simon said, “I felt this was a lifeline, although I was very skeptical that it would make a difference. However, the effects were amazing. Within weeks I was back on my healthy living kick and loving it and over the programme we worked on stuff that I had no idea had anything to do with high blood pressure. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

“Here I am 9 months later, 2 stone lighter and my GP agreed to take me off the medication and my BP is around 125/83. Looking back it seems like a miracle but I realise now that it is just common sense. But it helped me achieve what, for me, was the impossible.”

Paul Howard, spokesman for The Hypnotension programme said, “The Hypnotension programme works by tackling the lifestyle factors that maintain the most common form of high blood pressure. Doctors and the NHS simply do not have the time or resources to tackle them effectively, and lifestyle changes require motivation from the client - something which just cannot be prescribed.”